Dividing By Zero: Seeing Double
by Scarlet Phlame
Summary: It all started on the day of January fourth. Probably what you would think was your average day, yes, but this was only the beginning of what became a living nightmare. That was the day that changed everything and turned Sissel's entire world upside down. When Sissel met an alternate version of himself... supposedly from the future. (ION.) DISCONTINUED AND UP FOR ADOPTION!
1. Chapter 1

It all started on the day of January fourth. Probably what you would think was your average day, yes, but this was only the beginning of what became a living nightmare.

For me, I was buried in the comforting embrace of the thick sheets in my cat basket. I wasn't expecting a storm to come, but, then again, no one ever does.

Lynne strolled by, barely paying attention to me in the basket. Sometimes it drove me crazy, knowing that I was the only one who remembered that fateful day so long ago. I could tell that by the ambitious look on Lynne's face that today was important, although I wasn't sure what for, or, for that matter, why.

My curiosity intensified, and I'm not exactly sure how, but I found myself standing by the doorway to Detective Jowd's office.

And then it struck me.

Why was Lynne even here in the first place?

"Hi, Detective Jowd," Lynne said politely from the end of the room. Detective Jowd looked up from his paperwork, smiling warmly at the sight of Lynne.

"Sorry, Lynne, I didn't see you there. I was really caught up in this work. How are you?" Lynne beamed.

"Guess what, Detective Jowd... I'm now a rookie!" Jowd looked mildly surprised, although somehow, I could tell from his expression that he had known all along. Maybe he was even a part or it.

"Really? That's wonderful, Lynne!" She beamed, grin stretching so far it might've burst right off of her face. "We have to celebrate immediately!" She sheepishly shuffled her feet.

"Oh, but I don't want to trouble you or anything-"

"Nonsense. I'll see you back here, say, meh, five?" The everlasting grin was back on Lynne's face. Well, Rookie Lynne's face, that was.

I watched the two converse a short moment longer, before retreating back to the familiarity of my cat bed. Sometimes people just perplexed me. Well, then again, these weren't the most normal of people. How many normal people do you know die five times in one night?

* * *

I paid Yomiel a visit at the prison right before Lynne's party.

We could communicate, still, and it was a relief to be able to talk to someone again.

Before, I hadn't really given communication a second thought. But now, when I had become used to talking even for one night of my entire existence, it had become a part of me.

I forgot how long we talked for, but eventually Yomiel was led away.

I wanted to go see his fiancé, who had my name, but I had to be at Jowd's home for Lynne's celebration party.

I wouldn't want to miss it. Or look dead. That might cause some panic, although I was kind of hoping no one would miss me.

Little did I know exactly what I was in for.


	2. Chapter 2

It was pretty late into the party when Cabanela came dancing in in that ridiculous white coat of his. I was thankful I was a distance away, because I was pretty positive if I had been any closer the rough folds of that thing would've sent me flying, in the manner a bat sends a baseball flying.

"Inspector Cabanela, how good of you to come," Jowd said through gritted teeth. I was pretty sure Cabanela had knocked over a vase or something with that spin, and the wry look on Cabanela's face made me want to grin like the Cheshire Cat. I waited for the dreaded phrase to come.

"Nooooothing like it, baby!" He presented a large bouquet of flowers, making Lynne jump. Poor girl. She might be traumatized for the rest of her life, after seeing the move Cabanela just pulled.

Believe it or not, Cabanela wasn't the same character he was before. He seemed more... cheerful than that fateful night. And I was pretty sure some of those old creases in his brow had vanished, although I couldn't be sure.

* * *

After a long time of chatting and chicken, an unexpected guest came in, and I almost jumped.

Yomiel.

Jowd sent a grin in my direction, and I would've cocked my head at this, only I felt frozen. Did this mean he remembered? Or maybe he just smiled at cats regularly. I highly doubted the latter, though.

I simply stood there in shock, and through the thick lens of the dark sunglasses, I saw Yomiel's gaze drift onto me, and I could've sworn he's winked at me.

Then Sissel walked in.

She had long, elegant blue hair, crimped, perhaps, and splashing far down her back gracefully. Wow. Now it didn't seem so embarrassing to be named after a girl, after all.

I watched Yomiel and Jowd talk a little, and Cabanela didn't seem to have much to say about... well, about anything. He just picked at his food and stared at his feet for the rest of the evening.

Lynne didn't seem to recognize him at all. In fact, I could've sworn Sissel and her could get along very easily.

I was happy for Yomiel. Maybe he had gotten a happy ending after all.


	3. Chapter 3

It was early morning the next day when Jowd got the call.

Sissel watched him, perplexed, as he watched Jowd stare ahead for a moment. That was very unlike Jowd.

And then he started to tremble.

(Uh-oh.)

Without waiting another moment, Sissel hopped straight onto the phone line.

"I believe the culprit ran off. He left no trace, no fingerprints." Jowd grimly nodded, even though I was positive he couldn't see the man on the other end of the line, but as the seconds ticked by, I grew more and more anxious.

"And you're sure the... victim is Yomiel, the man who was released from prison just the other day?"

I blinked, not wanting to believe what I had just heard.

"Yes... it's a tragic incident, but things like this do happen..."

I wished more than anything I had a voice right now, so I could yell into the phone and tell the arrogant man on the other end of the line that I had just lost a friend, a friend who I stood by all those years of darkness, who was everything to me for as long as I could remember.

"I see... I'll send someone right away..." Jowd's voice trailed off.

The rest of the conversation was a blur to me. How long had Yomiel been dead for? What if I couldn't save him? I needed to get to him as fast as possible, this I was sure of.

Jowd sighed and put the phone down, rubbing his head. "I think I had a little too much to drink last night," he murmured. He sent a glance in my direction. "Sissel, it's going to be fine, he couldn't have been dead that long." If I had been breathing, I would've sighed in relief. If Jowd said everything was going to be fine, then he knew what he was saying.

Unless, of course, it was the alcohol talking.

Jowd picked the phone up again, and I watched him dial a number into the pad.

"Lynne?" I was already back on the line, and I could see her expression clear as day. She looked pleasantly surprised.

(Wait till you hear the news, Lynne.)

"Detective Jowd? How are you?"

"Lynne, you remember the man who was at dinner last night?" She looked ahead at nothing at the other end of the line. I was pretty sure she knew what was coming next, or at least had an idea.

"Yes?"

"He was found dead in an alley this morning."

At first, Lynne said nothing. She covered her mouth with a hand, and I wasn't sure if she was going to scream.

She swayed from side to side.

"What?" she asked again, her tone much more light.

(Breathe, Lynne, breathe. I would get you a paper bag, except I would probably need it more. And I don't have hands, anyway.)

"What do you mean he's dead?" She repeated, her face blank as a sheet of paper.

"You going to be okay?" Jowd's voice held real concern.

"Yes... It's just a shock, is all, I mean, he was just at dinner last night... but don't you think that's a big j-job for a rookie like me?" she stuttered.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, Lynne."

"B-but, there has to be someone else who can go. M- maybe you, or Cabanela, or... or..." I wanted to glare at Jowd for making Lynne do the job, she was obviously not ready for it.

"You'll be fine, Lynne. This'll be a good way to prove yourself." She shuddered and took a deep breath.

"Oh... all right, then..."

I travelled through the line, knowing that I had better be prepared for the scene ahead.

Jowd was going to get it once I could talk to him, though.


	4. Chapter 4

The scene I met at the other end of the line, needless to say, was not pleasant. It had been a joy to see my former master previously, but this was too gruesome a death for me to handle and I turned away, trying to force the image out of my mind.

It was very clear he had been murdered, by whom, I had no idea and I wasn't sure that I wanted to know now that I had seen the scene of his death. Jowd must have been really drunk if he sent Lynne out to a mission like this.

I noticed Lynne's grim expression beside me, apparently this hadn't been on her to-do list this morning. Figures.

Well, I wasn't going to leave Yomiel like this, so I slipped out of the service phone which I had been lying in until then and stretched my paw over to Yomiel's corpse. Ten years of long waiting and practicing ghost tricks had finally paid off; I now had a reach longer than Missile had.

Thankfully, Yomiel was unconscious, and I was glad he was because I wasn't sure if I wanted him to remember this death or not, but it didn't matter now, so I travelled into the world of four minutes before death to see what had happened.

* * *

Four Minutes Before Death World

* * *

Yomiel was walking past what looked like a grocery store, evidently minding his own business and therefore I couldn't quite put my paw on why he had been attacked or whodunit.

(Hmm...)

I was still sitting on his corpse's core, but that was okay because I always reviewed a scene before I actually acted out. I didn't want to make things any worse than they could be.

What I saw next, I wasn't sure if it was an illusion or if I had plain lost it.

A man with a black mask covering his features dashed near Yomiel, and it was very clear he had realized he was being pursued, because he broke into a very fast running pace and didn't stop until he reached an alley, where, unfortunately, another masked man was waiting at the other end for him.

"You've got to be kidding me," Four-minutes-before-death Yomiel mumbled. I could tell he was trying to hide his fear, but he was trembling slightly, an action that worsened once they both pulled out their flashy weapons and aimed it directly at him. "I... you don't want to kill me," he said quickly, although for what reason I had no idea. The masked men exchanged glances and almost seemed to laugh before focusing their attention back on Yomiel. I could've sworn I'd seen a weapon like that before, but I couldn't quite remember where.

"We know what you have," the masked man snapped. "Now hand it over or it'll be the end of you." Yomiel froze for a moment, before jumping and tackling the masked man to the right onto the ground. He hit the pavement with a loud "oof", but the moment had passed and before I knew it, he had been shot and was lying flat on the ground.

"Let's get outta here," the man said to the other after a short while. "He obviously doesn't have it." They slumped him up against the wall and ran out of that place like the dickens, leaving me and dead Yomiel alone in the alley.

Before getting to work, though, I was certain I had seen both of them somewhere before but I couldn't remember from where.


	5. Chapter 5

I watched, dismayed, as four-minutes-before-death Yomiel walked right past the grocery store. I had seen Past Yomiel repeatedly die at least four times already. Needless to say, I was not enjoying myself.

There just seemed to be no way to save him this time, there was nothing I could move that was within reach, and also nothing that would have a useful effect on the problem.

Needless to say, I had dug myself into a deep hole that I had no means of getting out of.

(Don't worry, Yomiel, I won't fail you this time.) That thought was meant to calm me down, but it simply didn't. It only worsened the situation. Yomiel was dead, really dead, and what if I couldn't bring him back?

I felt queasy, despite the fact I never really felt anything. Okay, well, maybe I didn't feel queasy, just... I would feel queasy if I was alive. I settled on that thought. It was time to do something now to save Yomiel.

"Hey! You!" I would've jumped, had I not been in the telephone line.

"Who's that?" I called out nervously. Had Yomiel's spirit woken yet? Oh, god, I didn't want him to see himself dying... I didn't want him to remember this had even happened.

"Over here."

WHOOSH

I glanced around, I was back in that sucking red void one more time. Out of the corner of my eye, I could make out a figure.

"Hello? Do I know you?" I called.

"The question is, do I know you?" I thought for a moment, I couldn't recognize this voice, it had neither the sound of a male voice or a female, so I could only guess this was a dead spirit who just didn't remember who they were. It would explain the blue flame thing.

"Yomiel?" I said after a long moment of hesitating.

"...Think I'm starting to remember..."

There was a flash of light, just for a moment, and then I saw-

No. This couldn't be. I had to be dreaming.


	6. Chapter 6

"Me?!" I yowled, horrified, gawking as a pair of yellow eyes stared back at me. "You're kidding, right?"

Yellow-eyes observed me for a moment. Me staring at him, yellow-eyes staring back awkwardly. "Please tell me I'm high or something," yellow-eyes mumbled.

"You're a cat," I stated dryly. "More importantly, you look... well, you look like me. So, what the hell are you doing in MY form?" Yellow-eyes shrugged and casted his attention down at the floor.

"My name is Sissel," he said, after a long moment of hesitating. "If I remember correctly..." he frowned. "I think my old master was Yomiel... my current master is Detective Jowd. But Jowd wasn't always my master," he said, his brow furrowing more than I knew it could.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" I exclaimed, staring down Yellow-eyes, well, er, me. "Now, please just change to your original form! Don't think I'm stupid; I know that ghosts can change forms." Yellow-eyes shook his head.

"That isn't the point. I'm in my original form." I bit my tongue, then hopped over to Yomiel's corpse. There was still that blue flame there, meaning that Yellow-eyes couldn't possibly be him.

"You see that?" Yellow-eyes observed. "Either you let me help you, or he stays like that forever," Yellow said bluntly.

"Thank you, but no thank you. I can handle this myself." I frowned, though, recalling how many times I had attempted to keep Yomiel alive... it hadn't worked out, had it?

"I can hear your thoughts, you know," Yellow observed dryly. "Yellow-eyes is clever, but can you just call me Sissel or something?"

"Then we'll have three Sissels," I pointed out. Yellow groaned.

"Fine, but call me anything BUT yellow," Yellow said.

"Okay... Yellow." I grinned and turned back. "Now, are you gonna help me, or not?" Yellow nodded vigorously.

* * *

Four Minutes Before Death

* * *

Before I could say something, or start off, for that matter, I heard a loud sucking sound. And then...

* * *

Eight Minutes Before Death

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL?!" I shouted. "EIGHT MINUTES?!" Yellow smirked.

"Told you you needed my help," he remarked. I wasn't coming to like his attitude, but, then again, I guess that meant that I wasn't always that enjoyable to be around. Being dead could do that to you, I decided.

"I don't get it, how-"

"I can explain later. Do you wanna save Yomiel or not?" I reluctantly nodded. I didn't trust Yellow yet, but I knew I had to work with him if I wanted to save Yomiel.

"All right."

* * *

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